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The impact on the little girl was devastating and within a year, she had lost the ability to walk unaided and had begun to show symptoms for autism and anxiety, and suffered muscle spasms.

With Alejandrina's 10th birthday less than two weeks away on the 9th September, her mother Tianna Morgan, 29, asked her daughter how she would like to spend it and was asked for a single card.

But after Alejandrina's request went viral, she and her family, including brothers Austin, 15, David, six, and Michael, two, and sister Haley, 12, have been deluged with cards and gifts from well-wishers.

'Ali has been so excited to receive the mail, she has a smile on her face every time she sees cards have arrived and she claps for joy,' revealed Ms Morgan. 'As we open and read the cards she keeps a smile on her face.'

Alejandrina's request for cards went viral after her story was added to the Letters Project website - an online community of families whose children are struggling with terminal illness and disabilities.

The website, which was set up by Samantha Busch, allows well-wishers to send letters directly to families' homes in a bid to cheer them up.

So far, Ali has been sent 850 letters and packages from all over the world including Canada, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Puerto Rico, France, Australia, Ireland, and Sweden as well as the US.

Speechless: Mother Tianna says she has been left speechless by the love shown to her little girl by strangers

Close family: Alejandrina with her mother, step-father and siblings outside her home in Texas

'Ali doesn't love the gifts anymore than she loves the cards,' said Ms Morgan. 'Every single card is very special to her.

'I know after her birthday and all the cards have been read once, Ali will continue to get the cards out just to read them again and again.'

Although Alejandrina was diganosed with the condition last October, she remains unaware that the disease has proved fatal for all known sufferers so far.

'We do not know Ali's life expectancy,' says Ms Morgan. 'The disease is so rare and there is no timeline on the progression of it and even if a timeline was known her neurologist told us she has a mutation of the gene never seen before.'

Since her diagnosis, Alejandrina has been on sedatives prescribed to ease the symptoms which have left her unable to play with friends or even dress herself.

Dream: Alejandrina's parents took her to Disneyworld to meet her favourite princesses, including Snow White

Wonderful: Alejandrina and her family pose for a picture with Tinkerbell during their visit to Disneyworld

Happy: Before developing the disease, Alejandrina was able to walk unaided and live a normal life

Despite her deteriorating condition, Ms Morgan, who set up Princess Ali's Journey with NBIA, a Facebook page on which she posts updates about her daughter's progress, says she copes well with her illness.

'It is very hard to know when Ali is in pain or needing something due to her trouble expressing herself,' she explains.

'It is hard watching your child go through so much and being in pain and knowing there is nothing you can do about it.

'She does not have a full understanding of everything going on because the disease affects her comprehension.

'When we discuss the disease around Ali, she tells us she does not have a disease, because if she had a disease she would be sick - it's heart breaking.'

The family have also set up a fundraising page on GoFundMe to help pay for wheelchair friendly modifications to their house and have raised more than £3,000 towards their £30,000 target so far.

Apart from her single request for cards, Ms Morgan says that her sick daughter doesn't ask for anything other than good health.

'For my husband and I the cards have meant so much,' added Ms Morgan. 'They are truly an inspiration and blessing.

'The love being shown to our little girl is amazing and leaves us speechless.'

For details on how to send a letter, visit her Facebook page, Princess Ali's Journey with NBIA